MSA Staff Photo
Motorsport America caught up with King Richard Petty this past weekend at the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the unveiling of the permanent display of Richard Petty’s iconic cowboy hat. Legacy Motor Club’s program that will see the NASCAR industry recognize 75 years in racing for the Petty Family across the circuit this season.
MSA Staff Photo
Starting at Daytona International Speedway and continued at the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, 28 one-of-a-kind art installations featuring the likeness of Richard Petty’s iconic cowboy hat are being unveiled. The six-foot tall, 1,000-pound fiberglass and concrete statues will become permanent displays at all NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports owned tracks, as well as Indianapolis Motor Speedway, World Wide Technology Raceway, Pocono Raceway, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Legacy Motor Club and the Petty Museum.
Each location will have a uniquely personalized tribute to the Petty family: at AMS “The King’s Hat” will wear the colors of the car Richard Petty piloted in his final NASCAR start at the Georgia speedway in the 1992 season finale.
MSA Staff Photo
“It’s always special to be recognized and this does take it to the very top,” said “The King” Richard Petty. “This is really for the fans to enjoy something unique to our family, our history, and our contributions to the tracks and NASCAR. It took a lot of people, time, and effort to make this happen and our family is honored by that.”
The hats are meticulously hand-crafted by TivoliToo, Inc., the same company that designed and built the Charles Schulz Peanuts® character tribute in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. Brother and sister duo, Randi and Hart Johnson have personally worked with each track to bring the creative vision to life. All one of a kind and thoughtfully designed, the hope is that these special statues will become landmarks for fans to visit and pay tribute to the Petty’s for many years to come.
“My dad’s cowboy hat is iconic and is a part of who Richard Petty is,” said Kyle Petty. “If you see that hat, you know it’s Richard Petty. It’s been his signature look for as long as any race fan can remember. This is a great way to celebrate our family’s heritage and a fun way for fans to honor and learn about our history within the sport. We can’t thank LEGACY M.C., and all the tracks enough for working together to bring this to life.”
Fans are encouraged to use #PETTY75 when they find this one-of-a-kind piece of history and post photos socially, as “The King’s Hat” is set to become a permanent fixture of each city the NASCAR Cup Series visits in 2024. Fans can go to www.LEGACYMOTORCLUB.com for the locations of each hat.
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